Marsalis Music - eternal justin faulknerhttp://www.marsalismusic.com/taxonomy/term/447/0
enBranford Marsalis Quartet: 'Just' Playin' Jazzhttp://www.marsalismusic.com/news/branford-marsalis-quartet-just-playin-jazz
<p>Publication: <a href="http://www.martinezgazette.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=9608:branford-marsalis-quartet-just-playin-jazz&amp;catid=46:news&amp;Itemid=81#.UGskeKCyPTp" target="_blank">Martinez News-Gazette</a><br />
Author: Gordon R. Webb<br />
Date: September 30, 2012<br />
<br />
Fellow musicians, critics and the listening public alike must have thought jazz saxophonist Branford <span data-scayt_word="Marsalis" data-scaytid="1">Marsalis</span> had lost his mind back in 2009, when he hired 18-year-old Justin Faulkner to replace Jeff &#8220;<span data-scayt_word="Tain" data-scaytid="4">Tain</span>&#8221; Watts on drums. After all, Watts – regarded by many as the preeminent jazz drummer of his generation – had been in <span data-scayt_word="Marsalis" data-scaytid="2">Marsalis</span>&#8217; quartet for nearly a quarter century and Faulkner was still in high school! But as we all know, there is a fine line between genius and insanity, and as it turns out, <span data-scayt_word="Marsalis" data-scaytid="3">Marsalis</span>&#8217; decision was&nbsp;crazy-smart.</p>
<p><span class="dquo">&#8220;</span>It was a sure thing!&#8221; says <span data-scayt_word="Marsalis" data-scaytid="5">Marsalis</span>. &#8220;I heard him play a slow blues and that was it &#8230; I knew it. He understood how to groove, and that the key to swinging isn&#8217;t in the beats you play, it&#8217;s the space in-between the beats &#8230; and he had a great left hand. The kid was raw, but the potential was there and I knew we could teach him everything&nbsp;else.&#8221;</p>
<p>After a two year jazz <span data-scayt_word="ed" data-scaytid="9">ed</span> incubation period, <span data-scayt_word="Marsalis" data-scaytid="7">Marsalis</span> ushered Faulkner and longtime collaborators Joey <span data-scayt_word="Calderazzo" data-scaytid="12">Calderazzo</span> (piano, since 1999) and Eric <span data-scayt_word="Revis" data-scaytid="13">Revis</span> (bass, since 1997) into a Durham, N.C., church last October, to record tracks for a new album. The results were released in August 2012 on CD and vinyl, entitled &#8220;Four <span data-scayt_word="MFs" data-scaytid="14">MFs</span> <span data-scayt_word="Playin" data-scaytid="16">Playin</span>&#8217; Tunes (<span data-scayt_word="Marsalis" data-scaytid="8">Marsalis</span> Music).&#8221; But please don&#8217;t let the off-hand title fool you into thinking the new record is some half-hearted jam session, because this is serious, modern jazz, spiritedly performed at an extraordinarily high level. The title comes from there being no overall concept or theme involved in the making of &#8220;Four <span data-scayt_word="MFs" data-scaytid="15">MFs</span> <span data-scayt_word="Playin" data-scaytid="17">Playin</span>&#8216;&nbsp;Tunes.&#8221;</p>
<p><span class="dquo">&#8220;</span>Our concept is just to play jazz,&#8221; says <span data-scayt_word="Marsalis" data-scaytid="18">Marsalis</span> in the overview promo video. &#8220;Learn 100 years of it &#8230; and play&nbsp;whatever.&#8221;</p>
<p>Every moment of &#8220;whatever&#8221; has a refreshingly loose, living-in-the-moment feel, but it&#8217;s a well-rehearsed spontaneity that comes from years of building trust on the&nbsp;bandstand.</p>
<div class="field-reference-artist">
<a href="/branford-marsalis">Branford Marsalis</a>
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<div class="field-reference-release">
<a href="/releases/4mfs">Four MFs Playin&#039; Tunes</a>
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<p><a href="http://www.marsalismusic.com/news/branford-marsalis-quartet-just-playin-jazz" target="_blank">read more</a></p>http://www.marsalismusic.com/news/branford-marsalis-quartet-just-playin-jazz#commentsbraggtownBranford Marsalis Quarteteriv reviseternal justin faulknerfour mfs playin' tunesJoey Calderazzosfjazzthelonius monkpressTue, 02 Oct 2012 17:48:59 +0000Courtney2230 at http://www.marsalismusic.com